(Just a quick post to see whether this Internet connection is sophisticated enough for the Poets and Storytellers United link widget. I'm still trying to catch up with my reading list.)
The prompt was to write a piece of short poetry or prose that contains a list.
This brings to mind the Welsh Triads, a form in between verse and prose. The form that qualifies it as poetry is just a list of three things that fit into some category; there's no further rule for patterns of sound. The oldest traditional Triads were meant to preserve history, not to sound pretty. Some triads are just the names of three otherwise forgotten people. Some end with a further comment, sometimes even a contradiction, as when the speaker is reciting a traditional triad and then adds "But some person/thing who came later did/was/had even more of [whatever]."
This one is about storms. Readers are free to mention storms, fires, or other ecological events they've survived. This is about the ones that actually struck places where I was at the time, so the list does not include any storm to which the commercial media have given a human name.
Three most destructive storms I remember:
the Clinchport Flood in 1977,
the Takoma Park storm in 1989,
the Big Wet Snow in 1997,
and they all did as much damage as they did
because nobody saw them coming.
Obviously no problem with the linking. And it was very interesting to learn about triads, thank you. I like your pertinent addition to your list of storms.
ReplyDeleteGood to see you here, and thanks for the encouraging words.
DeleteI enjoyed learning about Welsh Triads. We often don't see the big one coming, or can't get our heads out of the sand fast enough.
ReplyDeleteI've been present for some terrible roars of Nature: Hurricane Gilbert (Dominican Republic in 1988), Hurricane Floyd (North Carolina in 1999), Hurricane Sandy (New York City in 2012).
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the form. I think it would make an excellent medium for prose poetry pieces.
Thank you for letting us know of the Welsh Triads. It's interesting, whereby objects are grouped together in threes, with a heading indicating a common trait or a point of likeness.
ReplyDeleteA fascinating post ... cheers!
ReplyDeleteI love learning and I find this a wonderful post! yes, those floods in history and dams collapsing... i've read a few books about them!
ReplyDeleteYour winters made me think of how my sister and I remember winters growing up... The winter we stood on a huge snow bank and touched the barn roof , the winter we got our first pair of ice skates, the winter we had no electricity for two days and had to sleep by our wood burning stove and light candles like Laura Ingalls Wilder